Ketogenic Diet Guide

The Ketogenic Diet

The Ketogenic Diet involves limiting your intake of Carbohydrates, and eating plenty of Fat and some Protein. This lowers the blood glucose levels, and forces the body to burn fat. The metabolism of fat produces ketones in the liver, and these replace glucose as an energy source. In addition ketones have anti-inflammatory and pro-immunogenic properties.

For Nutritional Ketosis, and weight/fat loss, we can simply eliminate foods high in carbohydrate (starchy fruits and vegetables, bread, pasta, grains and sugar) whilst eating more fat and up to 100 grams of protein a day.

For Therapeutic Ketosis, and to stress Cancer, we limit carbohydrates to 12 grams a day, (basically only eating green salads with herbs), whilst eating plenty of fat, (olive oil, coconut oil, butter, cream) and 10+ tablets of MyAMINO (protein replacement) a day. MyAMINO produces virtually no glucose (much less that dietary protein) and provides all the building blocks to help maintain muscle mass and immune function.

Measure your blood ketones (click here for meter info) with a finger prick blood test meter. First thing in the morning will produce the best reading after fasting all night. You are in Nutritional Ketosis at 0.5 to 3.0 mmol/L. When dealing with Cancer we are aiming for Therapeutic Ketosis, which is from 3.0 to 6.0 mmol/L. This occurs by replacing all dietary protein with MyAMINO. Also measure your glucose levels. They should progressively decrease and remain stable to the lowest possible value and NOT increase much after meals.

Ketones Too Low?

Too much carbohydrate is the main reason people fail to achieve a good level of ketosis. You MUST measure your carbohydrate intake.

Emotional stress will raise your cortisol, which will increase glucose levels, which will lower your ketones. Practice gratitude and acceptance.

A sedentary lifestyle as opposed to exercise shortly after eating which helps to burn up the glucose and get you into ketosis. Go for a brisk walk.

No medium-chain triglycerides in the diet. You need these to produce ketones. Use plenty of coconut oil.

Fat Sources

Have at least 1 teaspoon of Coconut or Palm Oil with each meal. Have butter on your veggies.

Ketones are produced from fats high in Medium-Chain Triglycerides.

Best Fats & Oils.

Coconut Oil

Butter

Ghee

MCT-Oil

Palm Fruit Oil

Palm Kernel Oil

Good Fats & Oils.

Avocado Oil

Macadamia Nut Oil

Olive Oil Extra Virgin

Animal Fat (lard, tallow)

Cream(2.96g carb)

Cheddar and Quark

Protein Sources

Allow for 100g per day of eggs or meat. More than this will generally drop people out of ketosis. For other meals take 5 tablets of MyAMINO® as a protein source. (Take 10 tablets of MyAMINO® if weight loss or hunger is a problem)

Best Protein Source [4].

Tissue Building

Glucose

MyAMINO®

99%

1%

Good Protein Sources [4].

Tissue Building

Glucose

Whole Eggs

48%

52%

Poultry

32% avg.

68% avg.

Fish

32% avg.

68% avg.

Poor Protein Sources [4].

Tissue Building

Glucose

Casein & Whey

16%

84%

Soy

17%

83%

Carbohydrate Sources

Aim for a carbohydrate load of no more than 20g per day. The lower the better for ketosis levels.

Low Carb Vegetables - less than 6g a cupGrams of carb per 100g [1].

Artichoke(2.79g carb)

Avocado(1.83g carb)

Asparagus(2.11g carb)

Bamboo Shoots(0.52g carb)

Bean Sprouts(4.14g carb)

Beans Green(4.68g carb)

Beet Greens(2.56g carb)

Bok(pak) Choy(0.78g carb)

Broccoli(3.88g carb)

Brussel Sprouts(4.5g carb)

Cabbage(3.61g carb)

Cauliflower(1.81g carb)

Celery(1.37g carb)

Chard(2.03g carb)

Chives(1.85g carb)

Collard Greens(1.65g carb)

Cucumber(3.13g carb)

Eggplant(5.64g carb)

Endive(0.25g carb)

Fennel Bulb(4.2g carb)

Green Beans(4.68g carb)

Gherkin(1.41g carb)

Kale(3.63g carb)

Lettuce(1.57g carb)

Mushrooms(2.24g carb)

Napa Cabbage(2.23g carb)

Okra(2.01g carb)

Olives Pickled(0.54g carb)

Peppers(2.94g carb)

Radish(1.80g carb)

Sauerkraut(1.38g carb)

Savoy Cabbage(2.61g carb)

Scallions(4.74g carb)

Spinach(0.73g carb)

Taro Leaves(1.89g carb)

Tomatoes(2.69g carb)

Turnips(3.06g carb)

Watercress(0.79g carb)

Zucchini(2.11g carb)

Medium Carb Vegetables - 7 to 14g a cupGrams of carb per 100g [1].

Beetroot(7.96g carb)

Carrots(5.22g carb)

Leeks(6.62g carb)

Pumpkin(3.21g carb)

Rutabaga(5.04g carb)

Kohlrabi(5.59g carb)

Low Carb Fruits (& low GI/GL)Grams of carb per 100g [1].

Blackberries(4.31g carb)

Boysenberries(6.89g carb)

Gooseberries(5.88g carb)

Raspberries(5.44g carb)

Strawberries(5.68g carb)

Lemons(6.52g carb)

Medium Carb Fruits (& low GI/GL)Grams of carb per 100g [1].

Blueberries(12.09g carb)

Cherries Sweet(13.91g carb)

Cherries Sour(10.58g carb)

Grapefruit(9.09g carb)

Red Currant(9.50g carb)

Apricots(9.21g carb)

Low Carb NutsGrams of carb per 100g [1].

Almond(10.11g carb)

English Walnuts(7.01g carb)

Black Walnuts(2.78g carb)

Hazelnuts(8.2g carb)

Brazil Nuts(4.24g carb)

Macadamia(4.83g carb)

Coconut(6.23g carb)

Pecan(4.15g carb)

Cheese

High fat cheese may be eaten in moderation as the fat has little effect on blood glucose levels but the casein (80% of the protein) is mostly converted into glucose.

CheeseGrams of X per 100g [1].

Protein

Fat

Carbs

Camembert

19.80g

24.26g

0.46g

Cream Cheese

5.93g

34.24g

4.07g

Swiss Cheese

26.93g

27.80g

5.38g

Weight Loss Problem

Losing too much weight on a ketogenic diet can be addressed by increasing consumption of macadamias, avocados and MyAMINO® tablets. Up to 50 MyAMINO® tablets a day can be consumed with no more than 20 being consumed at any one time.

If weight loss continues to be a problem then protein (fatty meat, fish, eggs) should be increased until the problem ceases.

High blood sugar levels suppress the immune system [2] and Cancer cells have over six times the number of insulin receptors that healthy cells do [3]. This means that cancer cells are feeding on glucose, and blood glucose reduction has shown to correlate with cancer remission or stability [5].

Considerations

Perseverance is required by people whilst the body adjusts to using Ketones more efficiently. In the meantime, symptoms of low blood sugar, like tiredness, may be inconvenient.